Separating-machine.



PATENTED MAY 5, 1903.v

kNo. 726,996.

F. H. SCHULE. SEPARATING MACHINE.

APPLIOATION FILED 00T. 2. 1900.

N0 MODEL.

UNITED STATES Patented May 5, 1903.

FRIEDRICH HERMANN SCHULE, OF HAMBURG, GERMANY.

SEPARATING-MACHINE.

SPECIFICATION formingpart of Letters Patent N o. 726,996, dated May 5,1903.

Application flied octoter 2,19`oo.v serial No. 31,786. (No modem To allwhom t may concern:V

Be it known that LLFRIEDRIOH HERMANN SCHULE, a subject of the GermanEmperor,`

In the separation or sorting of materials of different specificgravitiesv several factors.

come into play-mst, the difference in the specific gravity of a mixtureof different inat-erials or of` the same material; second, the form ofeach of the particles, and, third, the condition of the surface of suchparticles, whether perfectly smooth or more or less rough or in othercondition to result in greater or less friction when moving over asmooth surface. Taking rice as an example, before it is cleaned itcontains not only hulls and blind grains lighter than the good ones, butalso grains which are'partially hulled or not hnlled at all, and maycontain other seeds. On the other hand,'decorticated ricecontains notonly the perfect grains, but a considerable proportion of imperfect andbroken grains, as well as partially-decorticated grains and grains whichleft the decorticating-machine unaffected. I have in both'instancesrecited not only constituents the specific gravity of which variesconsiderably, but also constituents the form of which, as Well as their'obvious at once that if the material were fed to the table at a fixedpoint it would notV be possible to clean rice and also effectuallyseparate the perfect decorticated rice from irnperfect and brokenandpartly-decorticated or undecorticated grains without difficulty andgreat loss of time.

My present invention has for its object the provision ofmeans wherebythis inconvenience is largely obviated, means being also providedwhereby the distance traveled over by the material can be regulatedby-varying the pointat which the material is fedv to the tablerelatively to the points at which the constituents of different specificgravity are discharged; but -that my invention may be fully understood IWill describe the same in detail, reference being had to theaccompanying drawings, in which- -Figure lis a side elevation, and Fig.2 a `top plan View, partly in section, of a separating-machine embodyingmy invention.

The separating-table 2 is secured to longitudinal beams', mounted onsectoral rockers 4, the segmental face of which is provided withgearteeth meshing with racks 5 on a base-plate or onV longitudinal beamsof a basal framing, and tothe longitudinal beams 3 about midway of theirlength is connected one end of a connecting-rod 6, Whose opposite eud isconnected-to a crank 7 on a shaft 8, carrying abelt-'pulley 9', drivenfrom any suitable prime motor, the separatingtable receiving ato-and-fro motion at right angles to its separating-channels bythemechanism described. A In practice I prefer to connect theconnecting-rod to any suitable device for neutralizy'ing shocks orprovide such meaus,which, however, form no 'part of this' invention,which resides, essentially, in the construction of the separating-tableor, more properly, the proximate Walls of the separating-channelsthereof, which I Will now describe, referring to Fig. 2, and beforedoing so I may state that in practice the said table is more or lessin.- clined in the direction of its separating-channels, according tothe materials to vbeY separated, aud is provided With a feed-hopper 10,extending the full length of the machine at right angles to its channelsand adjustable laterally toward one or the other longitudinal edge forthe purpose of varying the distance traveled over by the constituents ofa mixture of materials before they are discharged, as hereinabovereferred to.

The separating-table 2 is divided into aseries of transverse channels12, the bottom 13 of which is of polished sheet metal. The proximatefaces of the vertical walls of the channels have rentrant angles with along and a short side connected by a curved or concave portion and maybe formed by prismatic blocks of wood 14, suitably spaced and staggered,and to which blocks the sheet-metal walls 15 and the curved plates 16are secured, so as to form the rentrant angles 17, Whose shorter sides18 are horizontal and at right angles to .the direction of the channelsl2, while the longer sides 19 are inclined relatively to said directionof the channels.

As above stated, the series of prisms 14 transversely of the table orparallelwith the direction ofthe channels are staggered, whilelongitudinally of said table said prisms are arranged in parallel rowsand equidistant from each other in both directions.

By the described arrangement the reentrant angles themselves arestaggered in that the apices of the angle of one wall lie opposite andnearly midway the longer sides ofthe angles of the opposite Wall of achannel 12, as clearly shown in Fig. 2.

At each side of the machine extends a receiving-trough 2O and 20',respectively, into which the materials from the separatingchannels aredischarged and from which troughs the materials are discharged intosuitable receptacles.

In consequence of the shaking motion imparted to the table 2 thematerial fed into the separating-channels is thrown to and fro by thezigzag-shaped channel-walls and is thereby separated in a well-knownmanner-as, for instance, described in United States Patent No.559,815-into its heavier and its lighter constituent parts. The former,sliding down the inclined bottoms of the channels in the direction ofthe arrows y, Fig. 2, drop into the trough 20,while the lightercontituents travel in the opposite direction, arrows e, and pass intothe trough 20.

The good operation of the machine depends, essentially, upon thedescribed configuration of the vertical Walls of the separating-channels12 and to a great extent upon the hard polished surfaces with which thematerials come in contact and travel along or over. There are, however,other factors to be considered-namely, the degree of inclination of theseparating-table, the speed of the reciprocations thereof, the point atwhich the material is fed to the channels, and the feeding of thematerials tothe channels. These factors depend, however, exclusivelyupon the character of the materials to be separatednamely, the dilerencein the specitlc gravity of the constituents of the material and thefrictional resistance to motion of said constituents. There is, however,no difficulty in readily adjusting the inclination of the table, thespeed of its reciprocations, the point at which the material is fed tothe channels, and the amount of material to be continuously fed to thechannels nor are these adjustments required for each mixture ofmaterials of a different character.

Having thus described my inventiou,what

I claim as new therein, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

1. In a machine of the class described, a table divided into channels bypartitions, the proximate faces of which are formed by reentrant angles,a curved plate connecting the sides of each of said angles, and meansfor shaking said table, substantially as and for the purpose set forth.

2. In a machine of the class described, a table divided into channelsthe faces of which have rentrant angles having a short and a long side,and a curved plate connecting substantially the center of the short sidewith the long side and concentric with the medial line of the angle,4for the purpose set forth.

FRIEDRICH HERMANN SCHULE.

Witnesses:

MAX VAEMPFF, ERNEST H. L. MUMMENHOFF.

